ALAPPUZHA: There was a time when fishermen coast looked forward to a windfall during the southwest monsoon. This was the natural phenomenon called ‘chakara’ which brought an abundance of fish to the shores. Upwelling brings the bottom mud to the top and a mixing takes place causing hydrographical changes in the surface. The calm nature prevailing in the chakara area (mud banks) attracts fish towards it. Many of them land during chakara.
Legendary writer Thakazhy portrayed ‘chakara’ in his novel Chemmeen which was later made into a film and it had a hit song based on ‘chakara.’ But all these have become things of the past and ‘chakara’ has almost vanished from Ambalappuzha-Cherthala coastal belt.
Mr P.S. Sudharsan, district secretary, Matsya Thozhilali Union, Purakkad, says: “It’s not only climate change. There are multiple factors, including dwindling of fish wealth, for the absence of chakara. The large transport of minerals from the shore and massive dredging at Thottappally are also reasons for it,” he says.
Gangadharan, 64, from Purakkad, with over 40 years of deep sea fishing experience, recalls Purakkad was one of the main centres of chakara when he was young. “Fishermen across the district converged at Purakkad celebrating chakara,” he recalls. The modern fishing technique of using doll nets has wiped out juvenile fish. “This has prevented the formation of chakara,” he says.
According to fishermen, for the last few years chakara is formed at limited places like Arthunkal and Ottamassery. C.S. Devika, a Plus-Two student of St. Augustine’s HSS, Mararikulam, whose study on chakara was adjudged the best in the national children’s congress held in Karnataka in 2015, says the large-scale conversion of canals to dry land and the widespread plastic pollution were the reasons for the decline in chakara.
“The organic materials that spill into the sea through canals and bar mouths play a significant role in formation of chakara. The presence of higher quantity of nitrate and phosphate in chakara enhances the primary production facilitating the growth of phytoplankton, which increases the growth of zoo plankton in seawater of chakara.
The presence of phytoplankton and zoo plankton attracts plankton feeding small fishes. Subsequently, the large fishes that feed on smaller fishes flock to the area in search of food. “The higher fish catch of chakara leads to the subsequent establishment of a short-lived food chain in the area,” she says.
